Tom Hanks gives an Oscar-worthy performance in ‘Sully’

At times simple, nearly Capra-esque in its depiction of Sully and his detractors, it is also surprisingly twisty, jumping back and forth in time and digging deep into the PTSD-addled brain of the pilot. As the plane begins its descent into the Hudson River, we see diverse groups of NY civil servants galvanized into action, all of them attempting to save innocent passengers’ lives. “There’re a lot of things you can ‘base” on a true story. Doubtful. That’s why Eastwood and screenwriter Todd Komarnicki focus so hard on the aftermath of the so-called “Miracle on the Hudson”. Certainly, there was an inquest, but not at this level of suspicion.

With over 30 feature-film directing credits, Eastwood hasn’t always made the right choices, but “Sully” and his previous directing effort, “American Sniper”, show that the 86-year-old is in a good directing groove at the moment.

They used a private home in Alpharetta as Sully’s house.

For Flight 1549, Sullenberger had the experience, skills and competencies to land the aircraft safely on water.

Remember how CNN ran this story into the ground, as it were?

Speaking ahead of the film’s release on September 9, Hanks said: ‘In the political atmosphere we’re in, there are an terrible lot of points being made on [the notion that] you can’t count on people and institutions because they’re all broken – that none of them work.

Few aviation quotes are as pithy and memorable as Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s. That’s unusually short for Eastwood, a patient storyteller when working with more detailed material. But when you think of his characters from movies like “Catch Me If You Can” or “Bridge of Spies” or “Captain Phillips“- he has a trademark of the Good Man, the honest guy who’s going to unabashedly get the job done and not ask for glory or fame. If you can combine the award winning power play team of Eastwood and Hanks with an incredible true story, it’s impossible to pass up. A polite audience tsks-tsks at appropriate times. And self-doubt is not the most compelling of big-screen dramatic conflicts generally, especially in this situation. It may be the most lifeless passage this two-time Oscar-winning director ever filmed.

“He takes responsibility for flying 150 people and if he does his job perfectly, nobody gives a (expletive)”, Hanks said. The story consists only of the flight, the immediate investigation and hearing into whether Sullenberger was at fault for putting an Airbus in the water - never mind him saving all 155 people on board; he should have saved all the people and the plane - and very minimal back story. This mixes well with the personal story cleverly told through phone conversations between Sully and his wife, Lorraine (Laura Linney).

For safety scientists, Flight 1549 provides important lessons.

Hanks keeps things interesting with an array of concerned expressions and distant gazes. Researchers said little progress had been made in increasing diversity.The new figures follow the controversy earlier this year, sparked by two years of all-white acting nominees at the Academy Awards, as well as concerns ove the gender gap in pay and the lack of female directors. “He could do his job flawlessly — perfect take off, easy landing, no turbulence — and the people are still going to hate the flight because the peanuts were stale and the airline lost their bags”.

Contact Steve Persall at spersall@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8365.

Approximate running time: 95 minutes.